Learning Race Theology: Four Recent Encounters

Abstract

This article reviews four recently published books which help to deepen one’s understanding of the various ways white Christians (mostly in America) have often unknowingly propagated a form of Christianity that is built on a foundation of ‘whiteness’. While each book is aimed at different audiences, they collectively offer a substantive introduction to the nature of theological discourse around race and the challenges of confronting a racialised Christian mindset. Whether it is Willie Jennings’s unmasking of the white male values of self-sufficiency and mastery in higher education, Miguel De La Torre’s scathing appraisal of the ways white Christians contributed to the spectacle that was the Trump presidency, Esau McCaulley’s demonstration of the valuable insights gained when the biblical text is interpreted by non-whites, or the diverse scholars gathered by Love L. Sechrest, Johnny Ramírez-Johnson and Amos Yong, it is clear that churches (and the theologians who serve them) will need to reckon with what it means to fulfil their calling in a way that faithfully attends to the concerns addressed by people from non-white backgrounds.